The German-Ukrainian feature film I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming by German director Isabel Stever and Ukrainian screenwriter Anna Myelikova has been included in the Viennale programme, which will run from 22 October to 3 November. This was stated on the festival’s website.
I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming is based on real events and tells the story of a Ukrainian queer couple. Olya has always identified as a lesbian, but now lives with her boyfriend Oleh, who recently underwent gender transition. These changes intersect with Russia’s full-scale invasion. Their attempt to evacuate Kyiv is complicated by strict passport policies and systemic transphobia. The film aims to explore the link between internal and external transformations, as well as how society draws the boundaries between male and female.
The leading roles are played by Tanya Myronysheva (Olya) and Markus Breit (Oleh). Supporting roles are performed by Iryna Mak, Viktor Zhdanov, Maya Sobolevska, Mariya Myronysheva and Oleksandr Rudnytskyy.
The film was made in collaboration between the production company X-Filme of German director and screenwriter Tom Tykwer and the Ukrainian company 2Brave Productions of Olha Brehman and Nataliya Libet.
As a reminder, the film’s world premiere took place at the 79th Locarno International Film Festival, where it received the The Environment is Quality of Life award (The Environment Is Quality of Life). And at the 64th New York Film Festival (NYFF), the North American premiere took place in the Main Slate NYFF programme.
About Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival):
- an annual international film festival in Vienna, held in October;
- founded in 1960;
- the festival presents feature, documentary, short and experimental films in cinemas in Vienna’s historic city centre;
- the festival’s main prize is the Vienna Film Award; within Viennale, a special award is also presented by the organisation of professional film critics and film journalists — the Prize of the International Federation of Film Press, which may be awarded to a young director for a first or second film — as well as the Erste Bank MoreVALUE film awards and the audience award DER STANDARD-Viennale-Audience-Award.